The exact same scene can be expected this Saturday in Madison. The city and police have withdrawn all support of the Mifflin Street Block party. At least Patrick Kane won't be in town this year, and Montee Ball should be on his way to Denver.

One of the scariest single experiences in my life was the crowd on Green Street in Champaign-Urbana on Halloween, 1985. Even though it was peaceful, the sheer population density was such that one spark could have set off a disaster. Once I worked my way out of the crowd, I got the hell away from that scene.

Bruce Springsteen's Next Tour Stop:The exact same scene can be expected this Saturday in Madison. The city and police have withdrawn all support of the Mifflin Street Block party. At least Patrick Kane won't be in town this year, and Montee Ball should be on his way to Denver.

A good rule of thumb I always went by is if you started to see large amounts of cops coming it was best to sneek off and live to party another day. Saw too many of my idiot friends get busted for dumb stuff and put on probation.

My college had a Little 500 bike race in the spring. This became an excuse for a massive "party" on frat row. I saw it my freshman year. It was a huge mob of at least 2000 students, drunk, and smashing bottles. (To be clear, this wasn't the frat guys. I won't defend frat guys, but all of the frats had long since become terrified by this event. All of them kept their houses dark, and put up blizzard fences around their properties, and had the guys outside standing guard.) Now and then a car would make the mistake of trying to drive through and they would surround and rock the car. I remember seeing an older couple come through, probably parents of a student, and they were utterly terrified. It was at that point that my 19-year-old brain first started to gain some sense.Ever since, I've always felt uneasy to be around a group of more than maybe 50 people who are drinking. Some kind of reptilian herd mentality takes over.

They talked about cancelling Little 500 from then on, and oh, the outrage. The blistering, seething outrage. Instead they announced that loitering on frat row that night would be a crime. More outrage about that, but it stuck, at least for the rest of my time there.

One particularly annoying tactic that police sometimes use in this situation is to seal off the area first, preventing anyone from leaving, then go through making arrests. That pretty much CAUSES the riot.

Fubegra:One of the scariest single experiences in my life was the crowd on Green Street in Champaign-Urbana on Halloween, 1985. Even though it was peaceful, the sheer population density was such that one spark could have set off a disaster. Once I worked my way out of the crowd, I got the hell away from that scene.

ive only felt like that once. it was on bourbon street on new years eve. the crowd was so densely packed that when it moved you moved with it and had no choice. had something set off the crowd people would have been stampeded.

FTA: Right after arriving, he said a tear gas canister went off right next to him, covering his face and body in the toxic gas.

ZOMG POLICE USE TOXIC GAS on poor kids just trying to have a block party!!!!!!

/csb time

In 1983 an underaged buddy and I went to purchase tickets for the Iron Maiden/Twisted Sister show at Long Beach Arena. After a long night of partying on booze and weedies, the arena decided we were too rowdy to be selling tickets to us. Needless to say, things go out of hand with people rushing the flimsy temporary fences and pretty much all hell breaking loose. NOT wanting to go to jail with my friend, whose mom would have KILLED me for getting her son arrested, I managed to get he and I to a street level elevator. As we exited, stage left, Long Beach's finest showed up to arrest and try to contain the situation.We eventually caught a city bus to the Lakewood Mall where we were able to buy tickets, without a riot breaking out!

I used to live in East Lansing. Not as a student, but as a townie; A resident. As far as I'm concerned, any time the police want to throw tear gas and flashbangs at annoying, obnoxious, destructive, loud, drunk, irresponsible, kids who don't have any respect for the town they're temporarily visitingevery time they have a wild party/riot, it's a good thing. The more arrests the better. I'll even look the other way for a few of the beatings if they're deserved.

The only thing that would make it better would be if they accidentally burned down those big, ugly, obnoxious frat and sorority houses that litter the town.

Ann Arbor was better, at least. The wild stuff that happened there wasn't quite so loaded with stupid. Kalamazoo was tolerable, though it ended up attracting a lot more lowbrow party crashers who were probably more dangerous than the college kids.

People who thrive on these drunken mob gatherings aren't fun people. They're just cattle that feel better when they're part of the stampeding herd.

ZeroCorpse:I used to live in East Lansing. Not as a student, but as a townie; A resident. As far as I'm concerned, any time the police want to throw tear gas and flashbangs at annoying, obnoxious, destructive, loud, drunk, irresponsible, kids who don't have any respect for the town they're temporarily visitingevery time they have a wild party/riot, it's a good thing. The more arrests the better. I'll even look the other way for a few of the beatings if they're deserved.

The only thing that would make it better would be if they accidentally burned down those big, ugly, obnoxious frat and sorority houses that litter the town.

Ann Arbor was better, at least. The wild stuff that happened there wasn't quite so loaded with stupid. Kalamazoo was tolerable, though it ended up attracting a lot more lowbrow party crashers who were probably more dangerous than the college kids.

People who thrive on these drunken mob gatherings aren't fun people. They're just cattle that feel better when they're part of the stampeding herd.

I was working at Beggars one year and the tear gas went through our SmokeEaters (when you could still smoke in the bars) and through a kitchen vent.

megarian:ZeroCorpse: I used to live in East Lansing. Not as a student, but as a townie; A resident. As far as I'm concerned, any time the police want to throw tear gas and flashbangs at annoying, obnoxious, destructive, loud, drunk, irresponsible, kids who don't have any respect for the town they're temporarily visitingevery time they have a wild party/riot, it's a good thing. The more arrests the better. I'll even look the other way for a few of the beatings if they're deserved.

The only thing that would make it better would be if they accidentally burned down those big, ugly, obnoxious frat and sorority houses that litter the town.

Ann Arbor was better, at least. The wild stuff that happened there wasn't quite so loaded with stupid. Kalamazoo was tolerable, though it ended up attracting a lot more lowbrow party crashers who were probably more dangerous than the college kids.

People who thrive on these drunken mob gatherings aren't fun people. They're just cattle that feel better when they're part of the stampeding herd.

I was working at Beggars one year and the tear gas went through our SmokeEaters (when you could still smoke in the bars) and through a kitchen vent.

Gased while working. Awesome.

Blame it on the kids, not the cops.

Seriously, these brats show up for their little 4-year visit to town, tear the place apart, and then go home to their families and ignore that they f♥cked up someone else's home town. I have zero sympathy for those little drunkards when they get cop-smashed.

Kibbler:It was at that point that my 19-year-old brain first started to gain some sense.Ever since, I've always felt uneasy to be around a group of more than maybe 50 people who are drinking. Some kind of reptilian herd mentality takes over.

Have you ever watched a flock of seagulls fight over a scrap of food thrown at them? That's what a group of drunk humans looks like to me.

ZeroCorpse:megarian: ZeroCorpse: I used to live in East Lansing. Not as a student, but as a townie; A resident. As far as I'm concerned, any time the police want to throw tear gas and flashbangs at annoying, obnoxious, destructive, loud, drunk, irresponsible, kids who don't have any respect for the town they're temporarily visitingevery time they have a wild party/riot, it's a good thing. The more arrests the better. I'll even look the other way for a few of the beatings if they're deserved.

The only thing that would make it better would be if they accidentally burned down those big, ugly, obnoxious frat and sorority houses that litter the town.

Ann Arbor was better, at least. The wild stuff that happened there wasn't quite so loaded with stupid. Kalamazoo was tolerable, though it ended up attracting a lot more lowbrow party crashers who were probably more dangerous than the college kids.

People who thrive on these drunken mob gatherings aren't fun people. They're just cattle that feel better when they're part of the stampeding herd.

I was working at Beggars one year and the tear gas went through our SmokeEaters (when you could still smoke in the bars) and through a kitchen vent.

Gased while working. Awesome.

Blame it on the kids, not the cops.

Seriously, these brats show up for their little 4-year visit to town, tear the place apart, and then go home to their families and ignore that they f♥cked up someone else's home town. I have zero sympathy for those little drunkards when they get cop-smashed.

...and they tip like shiat on dollar beer night.

If you drink 12 beers in 4 hours and are pretty fussy about everything and want to chat and tell stories and have me get you like, 5 pickles from my bloody mary rail just for funsies (which I'm fine with me...that's part of my job) tip accordingly.

I love East Lansing in the summer. So much nicer. And I can actually tolerate the Peanut Barrel.

Oz: We should figure out what kinda deal this is. I mean, is it a-a gathering, a shindig or a hootenanny?Cordelia: What's the difference?Oz: Well, a gathering is brie, mellow song stylings; shindig, dip, less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage; and hootenanny, well, it's chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny.

Everyone who works there acts like they have a stick up their arse that was inserted sideways. I work in the food biz and know how to act when a customer, but when you screw up my order twice and then act like its my fault, yeah I'm gonna get a little lippy.

CSB time:

At EMU we had a Halloween party and 200+ people showed up. I thought we were getting busted for sure. The Ypsi cops just drove by and waved.

East Lansing hates students. They want everything a major university brings, except the students. Treat people like shiat and they will live down to your expectations.

Everyone who works there acts like they have a stick up their arse that was inserted sideways. I work in the food biz and know how to act when a customer, but when you screw up my order twice and then act like its my fault, yeah I'm gonna get a little lippy.

CSB time:

At EMU we had a Halloween party and 200+ people showed up. I thought we were getting busted for sure. The Ypsi cops just drove by and waved.

East Lansing hates students. They want everything a major university brings, except the students. Treat people like shiat and they will live down to your expectations.

You're right. East Lansing does hate students. The mayor was a total douche when he was around.

And 99% of the Barrel staff does blow... can't argue with you on that one. Except Jason. Because he used to give me a heads-up when it was "Promo Jameson Day" during the summer. So that's nice.